Rotary internal-combustion engine of the sliding abutment type



June 10, 1947. A. E. MELROSE 2,421,393 ROTARY INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE OF THE SLIDING ABUTENT TYPE Filed Nov. 22, 1943 s Sheets-Sheet 1 M62: Ado\phE.Me.\rose June 10, 1947. A. E. names: 2,421,893

ROTARY INTERNAL-CdlBUSTIO ENGINE OF THE SLIDING A-BUTENT TYPE I Filed Nov. 22-, 1943 s sheets-sheet 2 lnuenfdr AddphEMdrose,

3 WcIf-dQaauW V Brim-egg Patented June 10, 1947 ROTARY INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE OF THE SLIDING TYPE Adolph E. Melrose, Muskegomdtiich assignor to Adolph E. Melrose, Miles E: Johnson, ltfllo S. Newman, Benjamin H. Bui'well, and John N. Y

Martinson, trustees Application November22, 1943, Serial 1x1 511316 Claims. (Cl. 123-14) This invention relates to rotary internal combustion engines. Among its advantages it is light in weight, it produces a smooth flow of power without vibration and it provides various novel features of construction and arrangement as hereafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. l is a side elevation of an engine embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same on the line 2--2 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional elevation.

i 2 in bearings M which are provided with radial arms l5 extending outwardly and mounted upon the exterior of the cylinder parts 3 and 4. The bearings I4. and the arms l5 are provided at each side of the cylinder.

A plurality of firing chambers l6 are provided spaced around the cylinder l, four being shown. These firing chambers conform to the shape of the inner periphery of the cylinder but outwardly their walls are straight and parallel and they are in full communication with the cylinder with the exception of the arcuate rails H, the inner edges of which conform to the shape of the outer periphery of the cylinder. l5

Fig. 5 is a fragmentarytransverse section on be technically so named because it does not reciprocate in the cylinder but because of the analogy of the cylinder and pistons of this engine to the cylinders and pistons of the conventional reciprocatory internal combustion engines it is desired to use those terms herein. The gas is compressed in the cylinder behind the piston and the explosion occurs therein and drives the pistons in the cylinder to produce the power.

The cylinder I is composed of two annular halves 3 and 4 each of which have engaging flanges 5 around the outer peripheries which are provided with holes through which bolts 6 xtend to clamp the parts together. Theinner peripheries are spaced apart around the whole circum -ference thereby providing a continuous slot 8 which is shouldered at 9 on each of the parts 3 and 4. The pistons 2 fit closely within the cylinder I and are attached to fins II) as by means of screws ll extending through the walls of the pistons and threaded into the fins. The fins ID are attached to a disk l2 which preferably has a thicker periphery to give it weight so that it may serve as a fly wheel and the'fins Ill are provided These rails are to retain the pistons and piston rings thereon, if such are provided, inplace as the pistons pass the These compression cylinders l8 have their inner firing chambers.

ends open and in full communication with the A piston 19 is provided in each compression cylinder l8 and the pistons l9 are forced inwardly by strong compression springs 20 and the pistons l9 are moved outwardly by means of piston rods 2| connected to cross heads 22 which. are actuated by cams as hereinafter described. The cylinder heads are vented to permit easy operation of the pistons. The piston 'rods 2| are provided with heads 23 which engage the inner sides of the pistons I9 but the pistons are loose on the rods 2! and may move outwardly thereon as hereinafter described.

A gate 25 is provided at the following side of each firing chamber l2 and the gates when closed or moved inwardly completely close the cylinder at their respective locations. The gates are mounted for radial reciprocation and are attached to cross heads 26 which are operated by cams as hereafter described.

with flanges through which screws [4 pass for attachment to the fiy wheel; l2. The fly wheel I2 is fixed to the shaft l3 and shaft I3 is mounted Each piston is provided with an apron 21 which extends rearwardly therefrom and rides adjacent the shoulders 9 and completely closes the slot 8 throughout its length. The structure and mounting of the aprons 21 willbe hereinafter more fully described.

The cams 28, which operate the cross heads 22 and 26 and thereby the pistons l5 and gates 25 are fixed to the shaft I3 and rotate therewith. Two of these cams are preferably provided, one located at each side of the fly wheel l2, for the purpose of equalizing the action upon the cross heads. The cross heads 22 and 26 'are respectively provided with push rods 33 and 3| which extend inwardly and are slidably mounted in bearings 32 and 33 and are provided at their inner ends with cam rollers 34 and35 which engage and ride upon the surfaces of the cams 28. Compression springs 36 surround'each push rod, bearing at their outer ends against the bearings 32 and at their inner ends against collars 31 attached to the push rods, and these springs normally thrust the push rods inwardly and hold the cam rollers 34 and 35 against the cams 28.

The general principle of operation is that as, during rotation, a piston 2 approaches a firing chamber I6 the gate 25 for that firing chamber will be raised to permit the piston to pass under it. Immediately following the raising of the ate the compression piston ['9 is raised against com.-

pression of the strong spring 20. Just as soon as the piston has passed the gate the gate will be-rapidly lowered to close the cylinder behind the piston. The rear end of the piston is preferably inclined inwardly and rearwardly so that the movement of the gate may closely follow the movement of the piston. When the gate is com: pletely closed an injection of fuel is made through the nozzle 40 which communicates with the firing chamber l6 and immediately following or during such injection of fuel the compression piston I9 is rapidly lowered forcing air into the firing chamber I6 behind the piston 2 under compression and mixed with fuel. At this point the charge is ignited by a spark plug 42 having its electrodes located in the firing chamber l6.

Thus the charge of fuel which has been compressedby the piston IS-and trapped within the firing chamber l6 behind the piston 2 andin front of the gate 25 and above .'the apron 21 is exploded to force the piston around the cylinder and the gate remain closed and the length of the apron is such as to entrap the exploded fuel behind the piston until it has completely expanded or lost its appreciable propulsive effort or until one of the other pistons has received a power impulse at one of the other firing chambers so that a continuous propelling eifort is had. After the rear end of the apron 21 passes the gate it will open the slot 8 and this slot will .remain open until the approach of the succeeding piston and the repeated operation of lifting the gate and closing it behind the piston occurs so that the burned gases within the cylinder may be fully and easily expelled through the slot 8.

Although the principle of operation may be explained, and in fact carried out, with only one piston and one firing chamber, it is preferable to have a plurality of pistons and a plurality of firing chambers and the number of one of them should be odd and the number of the other should be even. Furthermore, because all of the push rods are operated from the same cams and the rises on the cam correspond in number with the pistons it is preferable to have fewer pistons than firing chambers because of lack of space on the cams. The reason for having a different number of firing chambers than pistons is to prevent simultaneous explosions in more than one firing chamber.

and the bottom of the recess 50. The pusher 5| has lateral flanges 53 which are engaged by flanges on the retaining plates 54 located at opposite sides of the fin and covering the sides of the recess 50.

The pusher 5| thrust outwardly by the spring 52 normally holds the flanges 48 of the apron 21 out of contact with the shoulders 9. The spring 52 is designed to have slightly less tension than the power exerted upon the apron by the explosion of the gas so that when the explosion occurs the apron will be thrust inwardly and the flanges 48 will engage the shoulders 9' to form a tight seal but the spring is designed to have s'ufiicient tension to prevent a strong pressure of the flanges against the shoulders and thereby prevents excessive frictional resistance.

Each of the cams 28 is provided at its low contour with concentric or dwell surfaces whereon the cam rollers 34 and 35 ride to retain the gates 25 and compression pistons I9 inward until the aprons have passed their respective gates. From the dwell surfaces 60 the cams have risers 6| to move the cam rollers 34 and 35 outwardly sufficient to completely open the gates 25 and to lift the'compression pistons l9. These risers must complete the lifting of the gates before the respective pistons 2 have reached them and then the cams areprovided with outer dwell portions 62 to retain the gates lifted or opened while the .pistons pass under them. From that point the cams are provided with abrupt drops 63 permitting rapid closing of the gates after the pistons have passed them followed quickly by an inward movement of the pistons I!) to compress the charge in the firing chambers.

For example, the gates 25 and compression pistons l9 are operated by the same cams and when so constructed the movements of the gates and the pistons are identical, the movement of the piston closely following the movement of the gate. If preferred separate cams should be provided for the gates and pistons and their respec- 'tive movements couldbe modified thereby.

The apparatus for causing ignition by the spark plugs 42 has not been shown because it can be similar to that commonly used in the conventional internal combustion engine. Both the fuel injection mechanism and the spark mechanism would of course be connected with the shaft l3 and operated synchronously therewith.

The specific details of'the fuel injector termed the nozzle 40 form no part of this invention. However an example of such a device is illustrated in Fig. 6. 40 is the body having an inner bore 65 on which a piston 66 is located. The body is screwed into an opening in the combustion chamber and a small orifice 6.1 in its upper end communicates therewith, A fuel passage 68 communicates with the bore 65 and is supplied with liquid fuel under slight pressure through a pipe 69.

The piston 66 is provided with an annular groove 10 near its upper end and a central passage H in the piston communicates with the bore 65 and with the groove 10. A spring 12 thrusts the piston downward and a sleeve 13 is attached to its lower end and surrounds the body 40.

Cams 14 are attached to the fins In and are so located with respect to the cams 28 that they will engage the respective sleeves l3 and thrust the pistons upward to inject a charge-,0! fuel into the combustion chamber at the time that the pistons l9 are moving downward to compress the mixture therein.

When in the lower position the upper part of the piston 66 covers the fuel passage 68 but on the first upward movement the groove passes the passage 68 and permits a small quantity of fuel to fiow into the bore 65 through the passage II in the piston and further upward movement forcibly ejects the fuel into the combustion chamber through the orifice 61, I

Each compression piston I9 is moved outwardly against thecompression of the strong spring 20. During this outward movement air is drawn into the cylinder l8 through the firing ch'amber l6 which is open at its inner side through the slot 8. When the cam rollers 34 drop at 63 on the cams 28 the spring 20 forces the piston 19 inwardly compressing the air in the firing chamber and behind the piston 2 which has then entered the same and this action is accompanied by injection of fuel through the nozzle 4|] and then immediately followed by ignition by the spark plug 42.

It is preferred that the spring 20 shall not be 10f sufiicient strength to completely resist the force of the explosion at its greatest pressure but when the explosion occurs the spring will yield somewhat to permit a slight retraction of the piston I9, this being possible because the piston I9 is slidably mounted upon its piston rod 2|. By thus permitting the piston to retract slightly at the height of the compression of explosion the effort upon the piston 2 will be cushioned to some extent and then as the piston 2 advances in the.

cylinder I and the compression of the exploded gas diminishes the compression piston will be again forced inwardly by the spring toward the firing chamber adding to and continuing the propulsive effort of the exploded gases.

An explosion occurs behind each piston in each firing chamber during each rotationof the shaft 13 and in an engine having four firing chambers and three pistons as shown there would be twelve explosions during each rotation. Using Fig. 2 as an illustration, an explosion is about to occur in the upper right'hand firing chamber and a piston is approaching the lower 'right hand firing chamber. The apron 21 is of sufficient length, and the dwell surface 60 on the cam 28 will permit the gate to remain closed at the upper right hand firing'chamber until the piston 2 has reached the lower right hand firings chamber and an explosion has occurred therein thus con-- tinuing the propulsive effort against one piston until a'succeeding piston has obtained a next propulsion. Thus a continuous power eifort is exerted on the shaft l3.

It will be noted that after an'apron passes. a

gate the slot 8 will be exposed to the interior of the cylinder I thus permitting a free exhaust of the burned gases. Also air for a new charge is drawn into the cylinders [8 through the open slot 8 and the firing chambers l6.

While the cylinder l and pistons 2 have been shown circular in cross section it is conceived that other cross sectional shapes may be used air and burnt gases'at the inner periphery of the cylinder I.

The invention is defined in the appended claims and is to be considered comprehensive of all forms of structure coming within their scope.

I claim: i

1. A rotary internal combustion engine comprising an annular cylinder having a continuinder, automatic means, synchronized with the movement of the piston in the cylinder to open said gate to permit passage of said piston and to close said gate immediately behind said piston, means to inject and compress an explosive charge in said cylinder between said piston and said gate, means'to ignite said explosive charge, and means to thrust said apron outwardly against the force of the exploded charge.

2. A rotary internal combustion engine comprising an annular cylinder having a continuous open annular slot in its inner periphery, a shaft journaled at the axis of the annulus, a fin extending radially of said shaft and projecting through said slot, a piston traversible in said cylinder and attached to said fin, an apron extending rearwardly of said piston and closing a portion of said slot, means for mounting said apron for limited movement radially of said shaft, a spring interposed betweensaid fin and said apron and acting to thrust said apron outwardly,

a gate movable to close said cylinder, automatic means, synchronized with the movement of the piston in the cylinder to open said gate to permit passage of said piston and to close said gate immediately behind said piston, means to inject and compress an explosive charge in said cylinder betweensaid piston and said gate meansto ignite said explosive charge.

3. A rotary internal combustion engine comprising an annular cylinder having a continuous openannular slot in its inner periphery, a shaft journaled at the axis of the annulus, a fln' extending radially of said shaft and projecting through said slot, a piston traversible in said cylinder and attached to said fin, an apron extending rearwardly of said piston and closing a portion of said slot, a gate movable to close said cylinder, automatic means synchronized with the movement of the piston in the cylinder to open said gate to permit passage. of said piston and to close said gate immediately behind said piston, means to inject and compress an explosive charge in said cylinder between said piston and said gate means to ignite said explosive charge, said means to compress said explosive charge being yieldable vunder the force of the explosion of said charge.

4. A rotary internal combustion engine comprising an annular cylinder having a continuous open annular slot in its inner periphery, a shaft journaled at the axis of the annulus, a fin extending radially of said shaft and projecting through said slot, a piston traversible in said cylinder and attached to said fin, an apron extending rearwardly of said piston and closing a Portion of said slot. a gate movable to close said cylinder, automatic means, synchronized with the movement of the piston in the cylinder to open said gate to permit passage of said piston and to close said gate immediately behind said piston,

' 7 means to inject and compress an explosive charge in said cylinder between said piston and said gate means to ignite said explosive charge, a, firing chamber coincident with said cylinder and adjacent said gate and in which said means to inject and compress an explosive charge comprises a compression cylinder in communication with said firing chamber, a compression piston in said compression cylinder, a cam on said shaft, means actuated by said cam to.move said compression piston outwardly away from the firing chamber, spring means to urge'said compression piston inwardly toward said firing chamber and means for injecting fuel into said firing chamber and the contents thereof.

5. A rotary internal combustion engine comprisin annular cylinder. having a continuously open annular slo in its periphery, a shaft journaled at the axis of the annulus, a plurality of firing chambers evenly distributed around said gates immediately behind said pistons, an apron extending rearwardly of each piston and flexibly attached thereto and engaging one of said gates when closed, said aprons closing said slot throughout their length, means for injecting and compressing an explosive charge into said firing chamber between said piston and said gate, means for exploding said charge while said piston is close to said gate, the length of each apron being suflicient to remain in contact with a gate at one firing chamber until anothe piston is in position to have a charge exploded in another firing chamber.

- ADOLPH E. MELROSE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent;

UNITED s'rATEs lA'IENTS Brown Dec. 25, 1923 

